''Captain Midnight, the Bush King'' (US: ''The Bushranger's Bride'') is a 1911 Australian
silent Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
film about the fictitious
bushranger Captain Midnight. It was the directorial debut of actor
Alfred Rolfe. The film is based on the play of same name by
W. J. Lincoln and
Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager
and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pres ...
. ''Captain Midnight, the Bush King'' is now considered
lost
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*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
.
Synopsis
Edgar Dalimore is the son of wealthy station owner Cecil Dalimore, who is persuaded to disinherit his son on false grounds by Cecil's villainous nephew Vincent Lennox. Lennox and an associate, John Stirling, rob a safe belonging to Cecil, resulting in the latter's death. Edgar is wrongfully accused of the murder and is given a life sentence. He escapes with the help of Ned Harling, a bushman who worked for his father, and Ned's daughter Elsa, who loves Edgar.
Despite Elsa's affections, Edgar is in love with squatter's daughter Thelma Warren. A jealous Elsa betrays him to the police, but then changes her mind and helps him escape. Elsa comes forward with evidence that he did not kill his father. The killers try to kill Elsa but Edgar rescues her. Edgar's name is cleared. Elsa is left "lonely and forsaken, finding consolation in the sympathy of her faithful horse."
The movie was broken into the following sections:
* The Quarrel between Edgar Dalmore and his Father.
* The Murder of Edgar's Father.
* The Accusation – Edgar accused of the crime, and his committal.
* The Escape – Escaping from prison, he joins Hellville's Gang as Captain Midnight.
* The Attack on the Gold Escort, and Midnight pursued by police.
* The Diplomat – Elsa draws them off the track, and her daring ride.
* The Jealousy – Elsa's jealousy forces her to betray Midnight.
* The Dive for Life – Midnight's pluck and success.
* The Dead Man's Gully – Elsa's terrible fight for life.
* The Rescue – Midnight ever gallant.
* The Justice – The murderer of old Dalmore brought to justice.
* The Innocent – Midnight made a free man.
* The Fate of Captain Midight
Cast
*
Alfred Rolfe as Edgar Dalimore/Captain Midnight
*
Lily Dampier as Elsa
*
Raymond Longford
Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...
*
Lottie Lyell
Lottie Lyell (born Charlotte Edith Cox, 23 February 1890 – 21 December 1925) was an Australian actress, screenwriter, editor and filmmaker. She is regarded as Australia's first film star, and also contributed to the local industry during the ...
Original play
W. J. Lincoln version
The film was adapted from ''The Bush King'', a play originally written by
W. J. Lincoln.
The play was about Roger Dalmore, a young English officer who argues with his father, a Cornish mine owner, then emigrates to Australia, where he discovers he is charged with murdering and robbing his father. Although the real culprit is his cousin, Dalmore flees to the bush, where he is rescued by cattle-stealing bushrangers and, due in part of his military experience, becomes their leader under the name Captain Dart.
Dart falls in love with a banker's daughter and another lady falls for him; the latter attempts to betray him to the police after she realises Dart does not love her, however the bushranger escapes. The cousin comes to Australia and becomes involved in defrauding investors in a worthless mine. The cousin plans to blow up the mine but is foiled by Dart who gets him to eventually confesses his crime. He is united with the captain's daughter.
The play debuted in London and over five months it played at three London theatres. "The whole thing is a libel on Australian life as it is", complained one critic. When Lincoln returned to Australia the play then ran in Melbourne for a week in 1894.
Lincoln did some further revisions and the play had a brief run at the Novelty Theatre in London in 1897.
[W. J. Lincoln](_blank)
at Australian Variety Theatre Archive. Retrieved 8 September 2013
Alfred Dampier version
The play was rewritten by
Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager
and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pres ...
(Rolfe's father in law), writing as "Adam Pierre". He set the play entirely in Australia, changed the hero from being the son of a Cornish mine owner to the son of a wealthy Australian station owner, added a fifth act, renamed the hero Captain Midnight instead of Captain Dart, and added a role for himself as an old bushman, Ned Harling (In the original Harling was a publican but only in a small part). The play ends with Edgar marrying Thelma, leaving Elsa alone.
The play premiered in Sydney on 26 January 1901. It was very popular and was frequently performed throughout the 1900s.
Production
Lottie Lyell
Lottie Lyell (born Charlotte Edith Cox, 23 February 1890 – 21 December 1925) was an Australian actress, screenwriter, editor and filmmaker. She is regarded as Australia's first film star, and also contributed to the local industry during the ...
and
Raymond Longford
Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...
appeared in the movie as second leads.
["Raymond Longford", ''Cinema Papers'', January 1974 p51] According to contemporary reports, the actors researched their roles for seven months – this may be a reference to the amount of time they had played the parts on stage.
Charles Cozens Spencer hired Englishman Alan J. Williamson to oversee production. Williamson later said that the script only came to half a dozen pages and was carefully written to not have any interior scenes as there were no studio facilities at the time. Shooting took place in the Sydney suburbs of
Narrabeen
Narrabeen is a beachside suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narrabeen is 23 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is ...
and
Frenchs Forest
Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches) is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Frenchs Forest is
13 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Cou ...
, as well as in the
Blue Mountains, with an average of five or six scenes being filmed a day. Williamson claimed occasionally reshoots were needed but the actors were unavailable because of theatrical commitments, so they would just write a title to cover it. The budget was originally £300 but went up to £800.
Williamson said that
Raymond Longford
Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...
also worked as his assistant and was a "tower of strength" throughout the shoot.
The scene of Captain Midnight leaping off a cliff on horseback into a river and swimming away admit a hail of bullets was well received and "soon became obligatory for bushrangers in Australian cinema folklore."
It has been suggested this scene was inspired by a similar moment in
Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager
and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pres ...
's 1891 Wild West drama ''The Scout''.
Some lines of verse by Joseph L Goodman appeared on screen.
Release
It was a critical and popular success – Williamson claimed the film recouped its budget from one cinema alone.
One critic wrote that:
There is hardly a moment but is associated with some exciting incident, and the audience last night followed the picture with repeated bursts of cheering and applause, which found echo in the unrestrained appreciation manifest at its termination. Sensational horsemanship and thrilling adventure have been woven into a plot plausible in its entirety and of absorb ing interest.
The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' declared it:
A splendid series of bushranging incidents... It might be wished that Australian reproductions of melodramatic subjects were less frequently identified with the murderous doings of ruffians whitewashed but being in such demand ''Captain Midnight'' will be recognized as a cleverly contrived example of its class. Miss Lily Dampier and Mr Alfred Rolfe figured to much advantage... a long series of beautiful bush spaces... gave realism and distinction to the story.
Charles Cozens Spencer would later make three other films based on
Alfred Dampier
Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager
and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pres ...
play adaptations of novels set in colonial Australia, ''
Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road
''Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road'' is a 1911 Australian silent film about the bushranger Captain Starlight. It was based on Alfred Dampier's stage adaptation of the 1888 novel ''Robbery Under Arms''. It is considered a lost film.
...
'' (1911), ''
The Life of Rufus Dawes
''The Life of Rufus Dawes'' is a 1911 Australian silent film based on Alfred Dampier's stage adaptation of the 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'' produced by Charles Cozens Spencer.
It was also known as ''The Story of Rufus Dawes, ...
'' (1911) and ''
The Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole'' (1912). The first two were directed by Alfred Rolfe, but the third was made by
Raymond Longford
Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...
, whose early career was sponsored by Spencer.
UK & USA
The movie was released in England via Jury's Pictures,
where it received enthusiastic reviews.
[Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 14]
The film was one of a number of Spencer movies bought for release in the US by Sawyer Inc in 1913. It was retitled ''The Bushranger's Bride''.
Remake
A copy of a script adapted from the play by Rolfe is available at the
National Archives of Australia dated 1920. This script does not have the main character turn bushranger. It is likely it is a script for a proposed remake, considering the
ban on bushranger films that had been in force in New South Wales since 1912.
References
* Fotheringham, Richard, "Introduction", ''Robbery Under Arms'' by Alfred Dampier and Garnet Walch, Currency Press 1985
External links
*
''Captain Midnight''at
National Film and Sound Archive
Digital copy of script dated 1920at
National Archives of Australia (registration required)
''Captain Midnight the Bush King''at
AustLit (subscription required)
''The Bush King'' (original play)at
AustLit
{{Bushrangers , state=collapsed
1911 films
1911 Western (genre) films
1911 directorial debut films
1911 drama films
1911 lost films
1911 short films
Australian black-and-white films
Australian films based on plays
Bushranger films
Films directed by Alfred Rolfe
Films set in colonial Australia
Films shot in Australia
Lost Australian films
Lost Western (genre) films
Silent Australian Western (genre) films
Silent drama films
1910s English-language films